Maher responds to ‘birther’ controversy with new conspiracy: ‘Wiferism’

Friday night on HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher,” host Bill Maher brought up the fact that the “birther” movement has, regrettably, been back in the news. Birthers, of course, are people who question President Barack Obama’s citizenship and therefore his legitimacy as President of the United States, people like Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett and Donald Trump, the newly minted top surrogate for presumptive Republican presidential nominee former Gov. Mitt Romney (R-MA).

Maher wondered why Republicans should have all the fun hurling around outrageous, unfounded allegations of a vaguely xenophobic nature? Why shouldn’t people on the left have their own whacky conspiracy theory?

To that end, the host has created “wiferism,” the question of how many wives Romney actually has.

“I’m not saying I believe in that,” Maher quipped, “I just said he was born on a Mormon compound. I’m not a wifer, but for some reason he has never shown his original marriage certificate.”

He then riffs on various statements by cagey Republicans claiming not to be questioning the legitimacy of the president’s citizenship, but saying that it raises certain issues, “I’m not a wifer,” he said again, “but he does have the blood of a polygamous nomadic tribesman, and I think that has shaped his world view.”

He then asserts that he’s merely “asking the hard questions that the ‘Lamestream media’ won’t ask about Mitt’s unholy harem of obedient sister-wives.”

About the Author

David Ferguson is an editor at Raw Story. He was previously writer and radio producer in Athens, Georgia, hosting two shows for Georgia Public Broadcasting and blogging at Firedoglake.com and elsewhere. He is currently working on a book.